Four gold winners have been announced in three categories at the fourth annual Play for Change Awards: Sustainability, Diversity & Inclusion, and Life Skills.

Toy Industries of Europe (TIE) has made the exceptional decision to award gold to four toy companies in the 2023 Play for Change Awards. The gold winners are: Adventerra Games in the Sustainability category, Mattel in Diversity & Inclusion, and World Brands as well as Learning Resources in the Life Skills category.

John Baulch, publisher of Toy World magazine and chair of the jury, said: “I have been chairing the jury of the Play for Change Awards since their very beginning in 2020 and it continues to be so rewarding to see all the toys and initiatives entered. Small and large toymakers across the globe are making impressive efforts to equip kids with key skills and to help them navigate the big issues of today’s world. As a jury, we have no easy task. The decision to give a joint gold award this year in the Life Skills category is a testament to that, and to the outstanding contributions made by two toy companies in the same field.”

The winners of the fourth edition of the Play for Change Awards are:

Diversity & Inclusion – for initiatives and toys that break boundaries based on outdated ‘norms’ of social status, ability, sex, race or religion:

• Gold: Mattel (United Kingdom) for Bruno the Brake Car, the first autistic character of Thomas & Friends
• Silver: Rubie’s Masquerade (United Kingdom) for its wheelchair-friendly costumes
• Bronze: Watoto Toys and Games (Sweden) for its inclusive dolls

Sustainability – for initiatives and toys which aim to deliver an overall positive impact for the environment.

• Gold: Adventerra Games (Switzerland) for its Mission Ocean board game that teaches children about ocean plastic pollution
• Silver: The Lego Group (Denmark) for transitioning to fully recyclable packaging in Europe
• Bronze: Toynamics Europe (Germany) for its Korko Bowling Set, made entirely of environmentally-friendly cork

Life Skills – for initiatives and toys that prepare children for tomorrow’s world.

• Joint Gold: Learning Resources (United Kingdom) for Switcheroo Coding Crew, a robot that introduces young kids to the basics of coding and STEM through screen-free play
• Joint Gold: World Brands (Spain) for Charlie The Astronaut, a robot that helps children learn about space while developing their coding and programming skills
• Silver: First and Lego Education (Denmark) for the 2022-2023 First Lego League Superpowered season, teaching children about energy and sustainable energy solutions
• Bronze: Moose Toys (United Kingdom) for Little Live Pets Mama Surprise, an interactive mama guinea pig that helps kids learn how to take responsibility and care for others

TIE’s director general, Catherine Van Reeth, said: “My warmest congratulations to all winners. You are all champions in the mission of promoting positive change through play and I hope that many more in the toy sector will follow your example.”

The winners were announced in Brussels during a ceremony that gathered professionals from the toy sector together with the EU policy community.

Register to keep up-to-date on information for next year’s awards here.